


Fix Me, Foster

by outer_space_ace



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outer_space_ace/pseuds/outer_space_ace
Summary: **Foster-Keefe will be the prevailing ship** The closer the Lost Cities get to war, the less time Sophie Foster and her friends have to stop the Neverseen - let alone keep them at bay. Worse, Alvar remains without memory, not only posing a threat to the Black Swan, but whatever the Neverseen worked so hard to hide could change the status of the silent battles between the two groups of rebels. Sophie's time is running out - will she fix things before the Black Swan is led to a crushing defeat?





	1. Chapter One

All Sophie could feel was anger. She wasn’t distraught, she didn’t feel helpless, and she didn’t even feel as if she would slip back into her Sophie Shell. Sophie was angry. Angry about why she was created, angry about the fact that she kept dragging her friends into this mess and ruining so many families. But most of all, Sophie was angry at the Neverseen, angry at Vespera, angry at Lady Gisela.  
The Neverseen seemed to have only one goal in mind: ruin Sophie and her friends’ lives. Sophie didn’t care how selfish this thought was, she knew that it was a side-effect of the Neverseen’s so-called plan to make the Lost Cities a better place.  
If they were trying to make things better, why would they free the forgotten prisoner, the emotionless empath, Vespera? She had no remorse torturing humans and elves alike, she only had her own goal in sight – whatever the goal was. Sophie and her friends barely escaped her wrath recently, Biana and Ro suffering most of all.  
Now, after everything Sophie had to go through just to be alive today, the Neverseen had given the Black Swan another impossible problem to solve, while the members of the Neverseen were probably frolicking off to go cause their next act of evil.  
So yes, Sophie was angry. Rage would probably be a better adjective to use. Could the Neverseen not give her one week to be a normal, teenage girl. All she wanted was a taste of normal, where she would be worrying about grades and boys – well, maybe not boys, she worried about them way too much anyway. Sophie was now stuck worrying about an evil group of murderers.  
Keefe, being an empath, was feeling all of Sophie’s rage, it was evident on his face. His eyebrows had been drawn closer together, and his eyes conveyed the look of anger. Keefe, as much for himself as Sophie, sent one of his calming, mental breezes to Sophie. Sophie immediately felt the rage fade away, being quickly filled by a different emotion. To send mental breezes, Keefe had to hold Sophie’s hand, and he still hadn’t let go. From the look on his face, Sophie knew he didn’t intend on letting go any time soon. She dropped her gaze from his face and blushed at her feet.  
“I think,” said Dex, breaking the silence, “the… thing only messed with one part of Alvar’s brain.” Over the course of a few weeks, ever since Alvar had failed to remember who he was, Dex was proving that he could contribute to the team. He had been building gadgets and making observations on a notepad, monitoring any changes to his health or state of mind. Dex would also make the occasional suggestion of what Sophie, Fitz, Mr. Forkle, and Tiergan should be searching for when they enter his mind. Sophie was starting to wonder if Dex was the most important person on their team.  
Despite the suggestions from Dex and the moral support from everyone else, the Black Swan was getting nowhere with Alvar. Sophie had been allowed to invade Alvar’s mind several times looking for something – anything – that could help Alvar remember who he was. She was having no luck; how could she heal a mind that wasn’t broken? Alvar’s conscience was completely intact, and he was forming perfect thoughts. Sophie was made to heal broken minds, and Alvar’s mind was not broken. Sophie felt nervous every time she had to read Alvar’s mind – she was worried the Vackers, especially Fitz and Biana, would blame her – so she tried to limit how often she invaded Alvar’s mind.  
With Keefe holding her hand, feeling her enhanced emotions, Sophie risked a glance at Fitz and Biana. They were sitting across from everyone in Alvar’s old room, on his old bed, telling them stories and old memories they had with him, trying to get him to remember even the slightest detail of his past. Sophie was immediately ridden with guilt, and she looked away.  
Her eyes wandered to the masses of goblins patrolling the halls of Everglen, protecting it from threats. Most of the Collective was here, including Mr. Forkle, Tiergan, Dex’s mom, Blur, and Wraith, accompanied by Physic. Not only were they there, but there was always a Councilor – usually Brant, Oralie, or Terik – in Everglen, and of course, there was Sophie and her friends. If the Neverseen managed to attack, they would have a field day. There were too many important people the Neverseen would be happy to get their hands on.  
“The rest of his brain is functioning perfectly, right?”  
“What do you mean?” Sophie asks. She wasn’t sure exactly what Dex was looking for, and she knew that when it came to the brain, there were different things to look at. Sophie had picked up that much from being an advanced high school senior at the age of twelve, it was one of the only lessons she found interesting. Sophie stayed conscious of the complexities of the brain, knowing that she had to focus on every miniscule detail when she broke into Alvar’s mind. To Sophie’s displeasure, she was never informed on exactly what she should be looking for, and she wasn’t educated thoroughly on the different parts of the brain and what their function was.  
Stupid human education.  
“Are his thoughts whole? Is he storing new memories?” Dex launched into a lengthy list of factors that could contribute to his new theory, a theory that was developing rapidly.  
“Well, yeah, I guess his thoughts are normal, or as normal as they can be for a person who can’t remember any part of his past. He seems to be storing memories he just made, like he remembers all of the Vackers trying to get him to remember things.”  
Sophie, Keefe, Dex, and Mr. Forkle turned in synchronization towards the Vackers. “He doesn’t seem to enjoy their Memory Sessions,” Sophie added in a whisper, only loud enough for the other three to hear. They all knew the Vackers were doing their best to help, and they were trying to hold it together for the time being. They were doing well about not going back into the downward spiral they underwent before, but they were doing nothing to help Alvar’s situation.  
Mr. Forkle nodded in understanding, and Keefe looked sorry for the Vackers. Keefe had been spending a lot of time in their house, wanting to get away from Lord Cassius, so he knew exactly how much pain they were really going through, his empathy picking up their emotions whenever he came in contact with one of them. Sophie tried to get him to stay at Havenfield several times, but Keefe always replied with, “Nah, Foster. Grady would try and kill me for breathing to close to you.”  
Sophie knew that could be a possibility with the way Grady had been acting lately. Grady had gotten extra protective over Sophie whenever Keefe came over to Havenfield, and had even put a new rule in play. Do Not Flirt With My Daughter. Keefe, being Keefe, ignored this rule daily, which Sophie was secretly glad about. Keefe refrained from flirting with her at Havenfield – within earshot of Grady, of course – and it made Sophie feel like something was off. There was more tension than usual, as if Keefe had something he wanted to say to Sophie when he wasn’t flirting, and Sophie wasn’t having nearly as much fun. Keefe complained frequently about how he couldn’t see Sophie’s cute blush as often. Sophie tried to ignore those comments.  
“Thanks, Sophie,” started Dex in response to the information Sophie gave him, “I have an idea that might make sense.  
Sophie, Keefe, and Mr. Forkle all motioned for Dex to continue, hoping he had finally came up with an idea that would help. So far, every idea had come out to nothing. “I believe it – whatever they had used to take away his memories – had to have attacked the medial temporal lobe, attacking his long-term memories. I have a feeling the attacked areas were most likely declarative and episodic memory; his semantic memory. From what I can tell, it took a large toll on the hippocampus.”  
“Why don’t you try explaining that again, but this time in terms the rest of us can vaguely understand?” Keefe suggested, just as confused as Sophie was.  
Mr. Forkle was not as lost, his eyes had widened and he clenched his fist, showing that he was understanding. “Yes, Mr. Dizznee. Short-term memory, new memories, no older long-term memories, hippocampus...,” Mr. Forkle mumbled to himself, nodding.  
“Well, see, Alvar is storing short-term memories, and he seems to be on the track to store new memories long-term. The hippocampus stores memories, experiences, etcetera, but its most common use is storing memory.”  
Dex stopped explaining, leaving a very confused Sophie, who still could not piece the information together. “Why are these facts so important? You’re acting like this changes the whole game.”  
Dex looked taken aback at Sophie’s lack of ability to comprehend what Dex was sharing. “Sophie, this does change the whole game.”  
All the Vackers stopped mid-sentence at Dex’s statement. Now everyone was involved in the conversation.  
“Foster?” Keefe whispers into Sophie’s ear. “Do you understand any of this?”  
Sophie was glad she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t catching on and nodded, hoping one nod conveyed all her confusion. Immediately, Sophie felt stupid for her hope, remembering Keefe was a powerful empath, and always felt Sophie’s emotions more than others’. Sophie had yet another change of emotion, feeling horrible about the fact that Keefe shared some of her confusion. Keefe never let go of Sophie’s hand.  
Mr. Forkle, sensing Dex was not open to elaborating any more than he already had, simplified the information for them. “To attack one specific – and when I say specific, I mean utterly specific – part of the brain, the Neverseen had to have been desperate to hide something. They wanted to hide something extremely carefully.”  
“Wait,” said Sophie, still confused, “are you saying that it wasn’t a Washer that erased Alvar’s memory?”  
“No, Sophie. If a Washer had done it, a keyword or a skilled telepath could have recovered his memory. This is the work of something else – something much more dangerous, and much more effective. From what I know, there is no possible way to recover Alvar’s memories,” Mr. Forkle replied solemnly.  
Sophie felt Keefe’s body tense beside her, and she squeezed his hand, trying to feel calm for Keefe’s benefit. Alvar was Keefe’s hero, like an older brother to Keefe before they had discovered Alvar was part of the Neverseen. Keefe was trying to seem strong, acting like Alvar’s predicament didn’t concern him in the least. Sophie knew, despite Keefe’s efforts to act indifferent, he was hurting. Keefe had the same relationship with Alvar that Fitz had.  
“Are you sure?” Sophie managed to squeak out. Maybe Sophie didn’t have a close relationship with Alvar – or even one that didn’t involve dislike – but she wanted to do everything she could to try to save him.  
Mr. Forkle and Dex both nodded their heads, looking almost guilty.  
“That’s a whole ton of crap,” spat Fitz, reminding Sophie of the painful days Alden – Fitz’s dad – was broken, “there’s always a way to retrieve memories.” Fitz looked Sophie directly in the eye, urging her to agree with him. He wanted her to discard Dex’s valuable information and continue the battle they had no chance of winning. If Dex and Mr. Forkle were correct – which they usually were – there was no way to get Alvar to remember.  
Sophie dropped her gaze from Fitz’s eyes to the floor, knowing she could never agree with him. It’s hard to ignore solid facts, and the Neverseen was sure to throw another issue at the Black Swan. They couldn’t just ignore the rest of the world to help Alvar, who was previously involved in the Neverseen.  
“There’s got to be a way to return his memories – we can’t just have some sort of echo of Alvar here. It doesn’t matter how much information we feed him about his past, he won’t return to normal,” Fitz seemed to be pleading now, and Sophie felt horrible.  
“Maybe that’s not so bad,” Keefe murmured solemnly, only loud enough for Sophie to hear. Despite herself, Sophie couldn’t help but agree. Alvar was – or used to be – part of the Neverseen, the organization that constantly tried to take her life, Keefe’s life, and the rest of her friends’ lives. Maybe it would be better if Alvar wasn’t himself.  
Fitz shot Sophie a look of hurt and distaste. “But Sophie, we’re cognates,” he begged.  
Sophie shook her head, feeling like the worst person on the planet, yet still sticking to her opinion. “Yes, Fitz, we are cognates. Being your cognate, I’m telling you it’s a bad idea.”  
Keefe wrapped his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, reassuring her that she made the right choice, and that she said the right things. Fitz didn’t look nearly as hurt, he seemed to have seen the logic behind her words and decision.  
“Sorry, Fitz,” Dex apologized, “once his memories are gone, they’re gone forever.”  
Fitz turned to scowl at Dex, the look in his eyes carrying more venom than Sophie ever thought possible. “You’re not sorry, Dex. You just love seeing my whole world crumble down-”  
“Are you kidding me?” Dex roared, startling everyone in the room. “Do you not understand how much I have done for you and your family? I have saved your life on so many occasions. And can’t you tell I like your family? Especially your sister? Why would I want your family to suffer?” Although Dex had lowered his voice to some degree, he was panting hard.  
Fitz froze in shock, looking threatened and defeated. Sophie’s mouth was hanging open, she was astonished at how Dex admitted he cared about Fitz. Biana was blushing a deep shade of pink, her eyes raking around the room, trying to focus on anything other than Dex.  
The whole room seemed to be holding its breath, everyone wondering whether or not Fitz would attack Dex – verbally or physically. Grizel stepped in between the two boys, breaking their eye contact and providing a physical barrier.  
Sophie hoped neither of them would get physical, but she would never put anything past Fitz, who was unpredictable. Fitz, despite how red his face was, seemed to have calmed down, his stance was not as tense and his eyes had lost some of their fire.  
Sophie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, glad the threat of a fight had disappeared.  
“Dex,” Sophie said, wanting to change the topic, “how – why – did you get so familiar with the brain?”  
Dex, although he tried very hard to suppress it, had a strong look of pride on his face. Dex loved being praised for his accomplishments, and Sophie suspected it was because he needed to feel important in the group. Sophie made a mental note to help Dex realize he had one of the most important roles in their group.  
“The brain reminds me of technology – very advanced technology – and the way it works is just as fascinating as any piece of technology I’ve ever encountered. Of course I had to study the brain, and I’m thinking of designing a gadget to work like the brain.” Dex went on and on about his new gadget, giving Sophie a wide array of new vocabulary she had no idea how to use in a sentence, let alone how the words would ever fit into a casual conversation.  
Once Dex was finished explaining the complexities of the idea for his new gadget, Alden spoke up from the corner where he was still sitting with Alvar. “What are we going to do with Alvar if he can’t regain his memory? I doubt he could just continue to live here, it wouldn’t be fair – to him or to us.”  
There were many puzzled faces, revealing that not a single person had thought that far ahead, or even had the faintest sliver of an idea.  
“Wait,” said Ro, Keefe’s ogre bodyguard, who had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout their entire conversation, “we should be asking the real question, the big question.” She glanced around the room, hoping someone would catch on. No one had any idea what “The Big Question” was.  
Sophie motioned for Ro to continue with her proposition.  
“What is it they had hidden in Alvar’s mind?”  
Now, the whole room was eerily silent.  
“And why are they going to such great lengths to hide it?”


	2. Chapter 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGbI60xDL8Y < Mr. Doctor Man: PALAYE ROYALE

Sophie was spending her time mulling over dangerous questions. The questions themselves were dangerous, and the questions could paint a target on her back. These questions could make the Neverseen work even harder to get Alvar back. These questions could give the Neverseen reason to focus all their time on murdering Sophie. Mulling over these questions was the least stressful part of her week.  
Mulling over those very questions was helping Sophie focus. The questions were helping Sophie cope with her already chaotic life.  
She was not looking forward to the multiple inflicting sessions with Bronte this week – even though they were now on better terms, inflicting was still not Sophie’s favorite session. Sophie was not prepared for the mimicking assessment she had to pass. Sophie had been working tirelessly with Keefe, and she still couldn’t make herself sound like Grady, Edaline, Keefe, or anyone else she attempted to mimic. And Sophie was definitely not ready for her telepathy class, which she now had to share with both Fitz and Keefe. Now that Magnate Leto – Master Leto – was head of the school, he decided to incorporate old training techniques into Sophie’s schedule. Sophie also wasn’t ready for a jealous Marella, Biana, and Dex.  
Sophie, needless to say, was stressed. She was dealing with it the only way she knew how: Sophie was adding more stress.  
What do they have hidden in Alvar’s mind?  
Ro’s words had been constantly reverberating in Sophie’s mind since she asked her Earth-shattering question. Sophie repeated the words in her head over and over; she was beginning to feel like a broken record.  
And why are they going to such great lengths to hide it?  
Sophie mentally – and physically – sighed, abandoning all attempts to pay attention to her elvin history mentor drone on about the evolution of the Gnome-Elf agreement. Sophie found the lecture quite interesting, but she could no longer focus on the facts her mentor was spewing out. She quickly developed a stress-induced headache, and her brain was beginning to throb with pain.  
“May I go to the healing center?” It was rare Sophie willingly went to see Elwin – it’s not that she had anything against him, she rather liked Elwin – but the pain in her head was growing rapidly, and there was no way she would be able to focus for another half-an-hour.  
Her mentor nodded and Sophie left the classroom, making her way to the healing center.  
“Foster,” said a voice from behind her. Letting out a sigh and rubbing her temples, Sophie turned around to face the speaker.  
“Yes, Keefe?” Keefe had his back pressed against the wall of an abandoned classroom, and he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He motioned for Sophie to sit with him, and his invitation was turned down with a shake of Sophie’s head.  
Keefe let a brief frown cross his face, quickly transforming it into his trademark smirk. “I was hopeful I had finally rubbed off on you and you were deciding to skip class, but I was mistaken.” He shook his head as if it were the worst thing he had ever experienced in his life, a look of utter grief taking over his face.  
“Healing center,” Sophie declared, spinning around and walking to the healing center, trying to avoid anything Keefe could say that would make her want to stay with him.  
“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let such a dashing lady walk to the healing center by herself?” Keefe asked, hopping up and pursuing Sophie down the hallway.  
Sophie rolled her eyes and blushed at his comment, blushing even more when Keefe grabbed her hand once he caught up.  
Once Keefe caught a glance at her face, he teased, “Foster, you’re cute when you blush.”  
“Whatever,” Sophie sighed, trying her best to fight off a more prominent blush, “arguing will just make my headache worse.”  
They walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way. Reaching the door to the healing center, they were greeted by a beaming Elwin.  
“My two most frequent guests, back again. Which one of you is it?”  
Keefe put his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, and said, “Foster here has a killer headache. I’m only here to do my job as her Favorite Person and accompany her.”  
“You are not my Favorite Person,” Sophie lied. Keefe smiled, showing her that he knew she was lying.  
Elwin rolled his eyes and led them into the healing center, giving Sophie a bitter tasting liquid. “That should clear your headache right up by your next class,” Elwin said. “Keefe, would you like a pass?”  
“Nah,” Keefe replied, sitting on the edge of Sophie’s bed, “I’ll stay here with Foster and make sure she gets by okay.” He winks at Elwin and smirks at Sophie, sending her heart into hummingbird mode.  
Sophie cursed her over-sensitive heart. It was not the time to get hung up on her boy problems. With the thought, Sophie’s inner-voice soured. Boy problems were never problems she wanted to deal with. She never even wanted to associate herself with having boy problems.  
“Whatever, it’s not my fault if you get in trouble,” Elwin answered with a shrug.  
“So, Foster,” started Keefe, once Elwin was out of earshot, “what’s up?”  
“It’s just a headache, Keefe,” Sophie said, which wasn’t a complete lie. She did have a headache, and it was quite a horrible one at that. She didn’t want to talk about the stress of school, or about Ro’s questions about the Neverseen. Especially since some of her school stress was Keefe-related.  
Sophie could tell that Keefe knew she was lying – he was an empath – but he didn’t press her to answer his question truthfully. He would let her do that on her own. Keefe leaned closer to Sophie, and letting his voice drop, he whispered, “You can talk to me if you need to; you can talk to me about anything.”  
Sophie nodded, trying to fight the blush creeping onto her face. Yet again, there were other things to worry about, and boys shouldn’t even reach the top ten list. Even if Sophie tried to keep it that way, Keefe and Fitz made themselves extremely hard to ignore. Fitz was acting odd, showering Sophie with gifts, and Keefe was getting closer to Sophie nowadays, physically and emotionally. He tended to sit closer to her than he really needed to, and he was getting Sophie to open up to him a little bit more.  
As if that wasn’t enough, Tam kept making comments such as, “Fitz is unbearably desperate,” and “Keefe is trying too hard.” Not to mention Sophie’s least favorite: “You two are making it so much harder for Sophie to choose.” Sophie didn’t like being singled out, and she didn’t want to “choose between the two of them”, whatever Tam meant by that.  
“Any news from the Black Swan yet?” Keefe asked, after a quick glance around the room. Sophie shook her head, glancing around the room as well. Sophie was glad to see no goblin and ogre bodyguards eavesdropping on their conversation. Ro and Sandor were keeping guard outside of the door, following their promise to leave the two alone. It was something Keefe had suggested – “You can’t be involved in all of our scheming. I can protect Sophie, anyway.” – and it was something Sophie was grateful for. Even if it was only alone time between her and Keefe, she was glad that she got some alone time.  
Keefe sighed, running his hand through his hair. The Black Swan had been noticeably silent over the past few weeks. After the Big Question, the Black Swan decided to move Alvar to a remote location only a few of the members knew of. They were worried the Neverseen would try and retrieve him, which made Everglen a target.  
“Not only is the Black Swan being quiet,” said Keefe, “the Neverseen have also been lying low.”  
Sophie nodded her head in agreement. “It makes sense. They want it to be a surprise attack, they won’t want us to expect it.”  
“They’ll be watching,” Keefe added. “And they’ll make sure we’re with Alvar. I have no doubt they want him back.”  
“We know they’ll attack,” Sophie sighed. “The question is where and when.” Sophie flopped down onto the bed, Keefe following suit, laying himself next to her.  
“We’ll have to stay on our toes, I guess,” Keefe said with a frown. Sophie knew there was no way they could ever be prepared for a surprise attack. The Neverseen was always too good and too careful. There were absolutely no clues to what the Neverseen was about to do, and now the Black Swan was sitting in the dark, completely blind and defenseless.  
Keefe grabbed Sophie’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “We’ll win,” he breathed, “I promise.”  
Sophie turned to hug him, reassuring herself that he was real. Sophie was glad that Keefe was always there when she needed him, he was always exactly what Sophie needed, which was more than she could say for Fitz.  
Keefe smiled and hugged her back, his eyes locking with hers, his face making its way closer to Sophie’s slowly.  
“It’s time for your next class,” Sandor’s squeaky voice announced.  
“That means it’s time to move, lovebirds,” Ro clarified.  
Keefe sighed, and Sophie’s heart was still in hummingbird mode when she left the classroom.

***  
Sophie was not greeted with smiles, happiness, sunshine, or rainbows when she arrived home. She was greeted with solemn faces and a heavy tension in the air. Her suspicions of bad news were confirmed when she found Alden sitting on her couch. Sophie’s stomach dropped to her knees, and her body was trembling with anticipation – and fear – to hear the news.  
“Earlier today, hundreds of elves found a slip of paper with the number 3914 written on the front,” Alden began, not bothering with greetings.  
“There’s reason to believe more of these slips will be found, or be given,” Grady added.  
Sophie was expecting much bigger news. A couple people found some number on a sheet of paper? So, what? Sophie was expecting a hint that the Neverseen was planning, she thought Alden would reveal facts he – and the rest of the Black Swan – found out about a looming Neverseen threat.  
Maybe Sophie wasn’t even expecting Neverseen related news. Maybe she was hoping for it.  
Anything was better than sitting blind in the dark. There was nothing she could do. She was useless, and the Black Swan wasn’t making any progress. The Black Swan was doing nothing.  
The suspense was getting to Sophie, eating her from the inside out. Waiting for the Neverseen to make their next move – or show some hint about their next move – was like ending a book on a horrible cliffhanger. Sophie can’t stand cliffhangers.  
“Okay…” Sophie could tell that this story had something more to it. Something big. Something game changing.  
Sophie’s thoughts turned bitter. When was the news not big or game changing?  
Edaline stood up and sat down next to Sophie, clasping Sophie’s hand in one of her hands, and places her other hand on Sophie’s knee. Edaline smiles at Sophie and says, “You might want a little bit of support for this bit.”  
Sophie smiles gratefully at Edaline and turns back towards Grady, bracing herself for the bad news that he would give her. Sophie knew that if Keefe was here, he would have been able to feel the dread radiating off her. Sophie let out a long, slow breath, reminding herself that she hadn’t heard the news yet. Maybe it wasn’t that bad.  
“Jazzmine Aerodyte disappeared earlier today.” It was Alden who broke the news. Edaline tensed up beside Sophie, and Sophie knew immediately that Edaline wasn’t only there to support Sophie. Edaline knew Jazzmine Aerodyte. Edaline needed Sophie’s support as much as Sophie needed Edaline’s support.  
Sophie turned to give Edaline a hug. “It’s okay, Mom,” Sophie whispered, and Edaline wiped off the tears streaking down her face.  
“She had a number. The same number as many others did,” Alden continued. He waited a couple seconds before adding the last piece of news he had to deliver. “Jazzmine Aerodyte had – has – ties to the Black Swan.”  
Ties to the Black Swan… Disappearances… Maybe Sophie’s suspicions – or hopes – were true. If the Neverseen was behind this…  
The door to Havenfield opened suddenly – and with great force. Standing in the shadows was a large, wrinkly figure, who was giving off the distinct smell of feet. “We have reason to believe the Neverseen is behind something.”

A/N Thanks for reading Chapter Two of Fix Me, Foster! I apologize for the day-late update; my power was out from the wind storm for the longest time. I hope the wait was worth it though. Has anyone seen the Flashback cover? And oh my God, can I just say: I’m going to die. It’s beautiful. Anyway, the new chapter should be up by March 27th, so stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Mr. Forkle glanced around the room, registering Alden on the couch, his eyes resting on the tear-streaked face of Edaline. “You heard,” he guessed. Edaline nodded, and Mr. Forkle, understanding the weight of the situation and the effects it was having on Edaline, offered condolences. “I am very sorry, Mrs. Ruewen. I know you and Ms. Aerodyte were old friends.”  
Edaline greeted his words with a weak smile, then excused herself to go to the bathroom.  
“The numbers, Forkle. Do you have any idea what they mean?” Alden asked.  
“I have no idea, and neither does the rest of the collective,” admitted Mr. Forkle. “I was hoping, Sophie,” he said, turning to Sophie, “you and your friends could try and figure out what the number means. The numbers have to mean something.”  
Sophie was pleased she finally had received word from the Black Swan, even if the situation had to be unpleasant. She was ecstatic Mr. Forkle wanted to include her – and her friends – in this case. Not only was Sophie happy with her involvement in the case, she agreed with Mr. Forkle and was glad she got to work on figuring out the meaning to the numbers. The numbers had to be important; the numbers could even be the most important part of the case. If the numbers weren’t important, the Neverseen – if they were involved – would never have left them with the elves. It’s how the Neverseen operated: giving the Black Swan seemingly unimportant clues and leads, only to let them figure out those very clues and leads were important when it was too late. The Neverseen would never have left the number with Jazzmine, then suddenly take her away. If they had taken her.  
Finding out what the number 3914 meant wasn’t the only thing Sophie would have to work on. She and her friends would also have to find out the significance of the elves with numbers. If they had significance. Surely it wasn’t only people involved with the Black Swan. Maybe Jazzmine had ties with the Black Swan, but hundreds of elves? Sophie vaguely recalled the time Mr. Forkle told her the Black Swan was much larger than she originally believed, but Sophie doubted even the Black Swan was that large.  
There were so many ifs. Sophie knew so little, yet she felt like she knew enough to jump right onto the case. This is what the Neverseen does. They make her believe she has all the puzzle pieces to start with the puzzle. When Sophie gets close to the finish, she finds another piece, or she realizes one was put in the wrong place. Most of the time she doesn’t have all the pieces. That is what makes the Neverseen more dangerous than the average, violent rebel group. They were smart, and they knew how to mess with their enemies.  
“I… I need a list of the elves who were given numbers,” Sophie blurted. “I need – we need – to know what these people do.”  
“What do the people have to do with the numbers?” Mr. Forkle asked, curious as to which direction Sophie’s mind was headed to.  
“Yes, I understand Jazzmine had – has – ties to the Black Swan, but there’s got to be more to it than that. Is there anything else that would give the Neverseen a motive to take her? Would the Neverseen even know Jazzmine is involved with the Black Swan? What was her ability – if any? What was her job? Was she smart? Did she have some kind of power over anyone? We need to know these things if we want to understand what the Neverseen is doing with these numbers. What good are we if we know what the numbers mean, but we don’t know why the elves are put in danger? We need to know why these people are of importance to the Neverseen.”  
Mr. Forkle nodded with understanding. “I will get you the list of targeted elves. Is there anything else you need?”  
Sophie took a moment to think. “I need access to the human internet,” she decided. Sophie knew the Neverseen had history with humans – most was not pleasant history – and she wouldn’t put it past the Neverseen to use a human idea to form their plan. If there was something in human history that had to do with the number 3914, Google would have information. She might as well try. The Neverseen could have used anything to inspire their newest mystery. That meant Sophie must try everything.   
“Mr. Dizznee is quite skilled enough to grant you access to the internet,” Mr. Forkle replied with a wink, making Sophie question whether Mr. Forkle knew about Dex’s modifications to her iPod. Sophie had no doubt Dex would be able to bring her internet, but Sophie wasn’t sure if she wanted Dex to spend his time on this one task. Sophie needed the internet before she could begin her research (the research she would put Dex on), but she also needed to start researching as soon as possible. Which meant Sophie would need a real human computer, one that could access thousands of websites.  
“I need a laptop, then,” she told Mr. Forkle. “And I mean a high-quality one. It has to have a big screen – preferably touchscreen – and I would like quite a few gigabytes. I would also appreciate it if the screen had a good picture. If possible, I would like the newest Lenovo. Dex can do the rest.  
Mr. Forkle sighed. “You kids… Yes, I can get you a laptop. Is that all?”  
Sophie was positive she wouldn’t need anything else. Between the libraries Sophie and her friends had in their houses, and the knowledge of the internet, Sophie decided it would be more than enough. “That should be it,” Sophie said.  
“I can get that laptop to you at school tomorrow. Come meet me at my office in the morning. I will see you then.” With that, Mr. Forkle stepped out of Havenfield and glittered away.  
“I’m going to invite Keefe over so we can come up with theories,” Sophie announced, standing up to call Keefe from her room.  
Edaline, who seemed to have entered the room at just the right time, raised her eyebrows and asked, “Is that the only reason?”  
“Yes,” Sophie said unconvincingly; her forceful “yes” was accompanied by a blush. “Keefe is good at theories,” she argued defensively before bolting up to her room.  
Parents are so embarrassing. 

***

“So, everyone who got numbers all got the same one?” Keefe asked, after Sophie had explained to him the situation, and he had made himself comfortable on the floor. He still made a habit of obeying Sophie’s No Boys on the Bed rule. “And you’ve never heard of this number in any significance to anything?”  
“Yes, everyone was given the same number,” Sophie answered, pacing around her room. “No, I’ve never heard of this number in any significance. What kind of random number is 3914?”  
Keefe let out an obnoxiously long, melodramatic sigh. Sophie couldn’t help but feel like letting out a sigh equally as dramatic and loud as his. Sophie and Keefe were just discussing this, how the Neverseen was being eerily silent. Now, as if someone had heard Sophie and Keefe’s discussion, they were faced with a new problem. A problem involving the Neverseen – most likely. This was a problem that could be catastrophic if the Black Swan didn’t get to the bottom of it quickly. Somebody disappeared, and it was highly likely more would start disappearing.   
Hundreds of elves.  
If there was something more important than figuring out why people were disappearing and how to stop it, it would be finding out what was happening to the elves disappearing. If anything was happening.  
“So, this person that disappeared… who were they, exactly?” Keefe questioned.  
Sophie, tired of pacing, moved to sit on the carpet across from Keefe. She sat with her legs crossed, close enough to Keefe that she could feel his body heat and see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, but not quite close enough that their knees were touching. “Her name was – is – Jazzmine Aerodyte. Apparently, she had – has – ties to the Black Swan.”  
Keefe nodded, “So maybe they’re attacking Black Swan members.”   
“I… don’t think so. People involved with the Black Swan doesn’t make sense as a sole motive,” Sophie countered. “Maybe the Neverseen is targeting people based on their abilities. It could have something to do with family status, perhaps. Maybe they’re going after possible threats. Threats to their organization, or some other new, much larger plan.”  
“You asked Forkle to get you a list of the elves who received numbers, right?”  
“Yeah, I did. Mr. Forkle also agreed to bring me a nice, human laptop for Dex to work with. I’m hoping he can find something to do with the numbers online,” Sophie replied.  
“I guess all we can do is wait,” Keefe sighed, moving to lay on his back. “Do you know what ability Jazzmine had?”   
“I don’t,” Sophie answered. “But,” she started, suddenly realizing some important information, “Edaline knew her. They were good friends, I think.”  
“Should you – we – maybe go ask her about Jazzmine?” Keefe asked.  
“Well…” Sophie began, “I’m… not sure. I think Edaline took the news a little harder than what was expected. I’m pretty sure she knew Jazzmine more than she let on. I think the disappearance has affected her, in a way.”  
“Do you think Grady would know?”  
Sophie contemplated whether Grady knew enough about Jazmine to be worth questioning. She knew her adoptive parents were at Foxfire together, but Sophie wasn’t sure if they were in the same year. Sophie wasn’t even sure if her parents were friends during school. “It wouldn’t hurt to try,” she said.   
Sophie requested that Sandor bring Grady up to her room, as well as asking him to ask Edaline for some mallowmelt on Keefe’s behalf. Once Grady was in her room, and Edaline was downstairs, busy with the mallowmelt, Sophie and Keefe wasted no time with their interrogation.  
“Did you know Jazzmine?” Sophie began. If Grady had known Jazzmine almost as well as Edaline had, he would be just as reliable as Edaline would be for their information.   
“Not very well,” he answered.   
Sophie felt her hopes drop ever so slightly. So, what? Grady didn’t really know Jazzmine, but maybe he knew of her enough to be useful.  
“Do you maybe know what ability she had?” Keefe asked.  
Grady looked at Keefe as if Keefe’s very existence irritated him, but answered the question nonetheless. “I think I can recall her as being a telepath. I could be wrong of course; I was only around Jazzmine when I was with Edaline, as they were best friends, and I wasn’t around Edaline very often.”  
Sophie nodded. Telepath wasn’t the most common ability, and sometimes it could be an extremely valuable and powerful talent.   
Before Sophie or Keefe could get another question in, Grady said, “Jazzmine was also always top of her class. She was like the Dex Dizznee of our time: a genius.”  
Sophie couldn’t help but smile at the fact Grady had called Dex a genius. She knew that if Dex were here, his ego would double in size. To Dex, being called a genius was no small feat.   
“Am I not a genius?” Keefe asked, offended. “I skipped a grade, you know.”  
“I know,” Grady replied curtly. “That doesn’t make you any sort of genius. It just makes you privileged.”  
“Foster thinks I’m a genius. Right Foster?” Keefe pushed, slinging his arm around Sophie’s shoulders.   
Sophie couldn’t help but blush, and by the heat of her face, she guessed she had turned a lovely shade of crimson. She made a mental note to slap Keefe later. If Grady thought that whenever her and Keefe hung out it was like this, he might consult with Sandor and Ro to take back the privacy rule. Sophie rolled her eyes and shrugged off Keefe’s arm, playing it cool in front of Grady. “Why do you think Jazzmine was taken?”  
Grady sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “We don’t know she’s been taken yet, Sophie.”  
“Yes but-” Keefe started.  
“We also have no idea if her disappearance had anything to do with the numbers,” he replied. Sophie opened her mouth, and before she could get out a word, Grady cut her off. “We don’t even know if the Neverseen is behind the numbers.”  
Keefe huffed loudly and dropped onto Sophie’s bed in defeat. “Really, you two, it’s not your job to find out about Jazzmine. It’s your job to find out what these numbers mean.”  
Sophie knew the conversation would take a turn in this direction. No, Sophie, do what you’re told. No, Sophie, you’re not strong enough or smart enough to handle that much. Sophie didn’t like being told what to do. She didn’t like being left out of projects the Black Swan was working on. Sophie especially did not like being warned to not do something, more so when she knew she could get it done faster and better than the adults. But for the sake of getting Grady off her back, Sophie would have to agree with him. “Fine,” she pouted, shooting a glare in his direction, “I will do what I am told and nothing else.”  
Grady didn’t look too convinced (who could blame him, really?), but he let her off. “Keefe,” he said before leaving the room, “I expect you out of my daughter’s room soon.”  
“Yessir!” Keefe said, saluting Grady.  
“So, she was a telepath,” Sophie told Keefe after Grady had left the room.  
“Yeah. She was also smart. Top of her class and a telepath? Neither is an ordinary occurrence, and both could be extremely useful assets. Especially if she was powerful enough at telepathy. And trust me, I’ve seen telepaths do some amazing things,” Keefe said, nudging Sophie’s side, earning a blush.  
“What does this mean?” Sophie asked, clutching the sides of her head with her hands. “Can’t they make anything easy?”  
“No. You know they can’t,” Keefe sighed. “We’re not planning on ‘staying out’ of this though, right?”  
“Not a chance,” Sophie replied with a smile.   
“Good. Then I know what this means.” Sophie lifted her head a little higher, eager to hear Keefe’s revelation. “The Neverseen – or whoever’s behind this – isn’t just targeting people at random.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should be out April 15th. Thanks for reading!


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